A Return to the Labyrinth
by ScarletonWhitePetals
Summary: 17-year-old Lena Renner was told stories of the Labyrinth and the goblin king by her grandmother when she was little. But, though she wished it otherwise, knew they weren't true. Or were they? After a bad day and a careless wish, she finds herself in the clutches of the Goblin King himself, and he won't let her go so easily...


_ Hi everyone! This is my first _Labyrinth_ fanfic. I put a lot of effort into it, so I hope everyone likes it. Enjoy! _

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A Return to the Labyrinth

Chapter 1  
Take me Away

My Grandmother often told me stories when I was a child. Fairy tales that she'd grown up with. My favorite was called _Labyrinth_. It was the story of a princess who had captured the heart of the handsome goblin king, who was keen to grant any wish she had. She wished for him to take away her annoying, spoiled baby brother one day and he granted it, wanting to please her. But it had the opposite effect. Realizing what a mistake it was to make the wish in the first place, she begged the goblin king to give the child back. Hurt and angered by this, the king told her she would have to solve his labyrinth if she ever wanted to see her little brother again. She fought her way through the maze until she came to the castle at its center, where she finally confronted the goblin king. He offered her two choices: She could take her little brother and go home to gritty reality, or she could stay in the palace with him, forever as his queen and forget everything else. She chose to take her brother and go, not wanting to submit to his power.

Every time Grandma told this story, I always wished the ending was different. If I were the princess, I would have stayed with the goblin king. I would have become his queen.

But it was just a story.

My alarm went off with an annoying buzzing sound, dragging me from the depths of sleep. Groaning, I reached over and hit the button to stop it. It was time to start another day. I got up and did my usual morning preparations before heading downstairs. I sat down at the table while my mom scurried around in the kitchen, a cell phone in one hand and a spatula in the other. By the smell, I knew she was making scrambled eggs. She came in and set down a plate in front of me without so much as a glance. Shaking my head, I dug in, finishing in five minutes. Mom got off the phone as I was bringing my plate in to the sink and sighed. "Those stupid old men."

That was what she called the boardroom members at her work when they disagreed with her. "What was it about now?" I asked.

She waved her hand like it was nothing. "The old fools won't see things my way about a deal we'll be making. I'll have to find a way to convince them when I get there. How do I look?" she asked. She was dressed in an office-style dress with her light brown hair done up in a tight bun. It was the way she usually looked for work.

"Amazing." I said before downing a half-cup of coffee. It was almost time to catch the bus to school. I pulled on my coat and headed out the door, calling out a quick, "Love you, bye!" as I went. It was dim outside, as it is in the early mornings of winter. I zipped up my jacket and hugged myself to keep warm in the chill air as I walked. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long at the bus stop. After a short bus ride, I was at school. Kids swarmed around the grassy campus waiting to go inside. I scanned the crowd for my best friend Crystal. I eventually found her standing at the edge of campus with my other best friend, Lukas. They were an odd sight together. Crystal was tall and athletic-looking (though she didn't actually play sports) with long straight blond hair and brown eyes, while Lucas was a half-a-head shorter with clipped short dark hair and dark blue eyes shielded by a pair of black-framed glasses. He wasn't bad-looking, but next to Crystal, he looked like the nerdiest kid in school. They smiled and waved when they saw me. "Hey guys." I greeted cheerfully. We struck up a small conversation about idle things like the latest movie coming out and who the most annoying teacher in school was. Crystal suddenly froze and a huge smile spread across her face as she pointed.

"Oh my God, there he is!" she said to me excitedly. I turned to see who she was talking about and felt my heart skip a beat. It was Jean Pierre. He was a French exchange student who was super popular at our school, mostly for his accent and his good looks. I couldn't help staring. He was gorgeous, with shoulder-length platinum blond hair and bright hazel eyes. I'd wanted to ask him out for so long, but couldn't get up the courage to, worried that he would turn me down. I was so entranced by his smiling face that the bell ringing sounded very distant. "Come on Lena." said Crystal, laughing as she pulled me toward the front doors. I reluctantly tore my gaze away to see Lukas shaking his head.

"What?" I asked.

"You. You girls have such strange taste in men." he replied, earning a punch in the arm from Crystal.

"What is Jean not your type?" I asked teasingly.

"Even if I went that way, not remotely." he replied. Crystal and I snickered at this. I couldn't be happier than when I was with my friends. We had such a happy little triangle thing going.

Too bad that would change in the next couple hours.

The day started out okay enough, but everything went downhill when I got to third period Classical Literature class. "Ms. Renner?" called the teacher, his voice serious. He sat at his desk, handing back essays we'd had to write on Shakespeare's _Macbeth_. I walked up to the desk and took the proffered paper, biting my lip against the nerves bubbling in my stomach. I turned it over cautiously, like it might bite if I wasn't careful. A sixty. That was my grade! I'd worked so hard on this one. "Mr. Diano, I don't understand how I got this." I said, showing him my paper. He looked up, his expression one of disinterest.

"Lena, you completely missed the point of the essay. Your prompt was to write about the morality, and immorality of Macbeth, but it seems your focus was more on his wife. And your sentence structures need work."

"But, this'll bring my grade to an F!" I complained.

He put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Not my problem. I don't think you're trying hard enough. Your grade is only as good as you can make it."

I bit my tongue to hold back a nasty retort, turning away instead. How could he say I wasn't trying? Did he have a look in my head? I sat down at my desk, arms crossed, fuming. I was lost in my angry thoughts when I saw something white flash out of the corner of my eye. I looked to the windows, but saw nothing but gray clouds hanging over the sky and the branch of the old tree that grew outside the school. Rain. That would be just perfect. But at least lunch was in the next couple periods so Crystal could cheer me up.

The next couple classes seemed to drag by. I was dying for fifth period chemistry to be over by the time the bell rang and jumped gratefully out of my seat. I went to my locker to exchange books and was on my way to the cafeteria when something stopped me. Passing by the girl's bathroom, I thought I heard a very familiar giggle. Curious, I poked my head in to see a sight that I could barely comprehend, let alone believe: Crystal was sitting on the edge of the sink, her knee-length skirt hiked up to her thighs with another familiar figure standing between her legs: Jean Pierre. He stepped away from her and she hopped down, straightening her clothes before she looked over and noticed me, her smile falling into open-mouthed surprise. I felt like crying and screaming at the same time. I chose to scream. "You BITCH!"

Without another word, or waiting for a lame explanation,I turned and ran down the hall, not caring if anyone saw me. Tears of hurt and anger mingled together ran down my cheeks. My appetite evaporated, I instead went to the school library. Finding a small space between book shelves where no one would find me, I sank to the floor, pulled my knees to my chest and sobbed into my arms. I was there for a long while, until the bell for sixth period rang. Sighing, I got to my feet and headed to seventh period study hall where I knew Lukas waited. He was there, at our usual table. I sat down heavily, placing my books in front of me. "Hey, Lena." Greeted Lukas casually, looking up from a small, worn book he was holding.

"Hi." I greeted blandly.

His blue eyes sparked with concern. "What's wrong?" he asked, laying the book aside. I noticed that the title of the book was _The Labyrinth_. The words rang a bell in my head that called to a long-forgotten memory, but I didn't feel like calling it up at the moment. I changed the subject, not wanting to lay my sorrows on Lukas.

"Nothing. What're you reading?" I asked quickly, hoping to divert to a different topic.

He glanced at the novella. "Ah, _The Labyrinth. _It's an interesting story about a girl who has to find her way out of this huge labyrinth before time runs out…and she's trapped forever."

Again, I felt the tug of the long-lost memory. "Sounds interesting." I said, feigning interest. My mind kept going back to that scene in the bathroom. I needed to forget. I needed to never speak to Crystal again.

Lukas continued, oblivious to my thoughts. "Yeah, I might let you borrow it sometime…if you tell me why you look like you want to kill someone and mourn them at their funeral at the same time."

I threw him a look, which he returned with steady patience. Finally, I gave in. I told him what I saw between Jean Pierre and Crystal, adding on how I'd already been upset before that because of a stupid Classical Lit. paper. Lukas listened and nodded, his eyes full of sympathy. When I was finished, he looked thoughtful for a long moment before he said finally, "He's not worth your anger. And neither is Crystal. I agree that it was terrible what she did, but don't hold a grudge. Stop being friends with her, certainly, but don't keep anger locked inside."

I threw him a disbelieving look. "You're saying I should just let this _go_? Just like that?"

"Yes. Staying angry about it will eat you away inside, and possibly send you into a depression. Or put you in the principal's office. It's best to just forget and move on. Knowing Crystal, she'll do the same. She's probably too ashamed to confront you about it anyway." He looked so knowing, so understanding, like he knew exactly what he was talking about. But it wasn't as simple as that. I wanted to be angry, to spit in her face the next time I saw her and tell her how much of a traitor she was, but I pretended to agree, nodding slowly.

"Yeah, alright." I replied. We launched into a new discussion after that, but my mind wasn't completely there; I was still fuming.

He must have noticed too, because when the bell rang and we parted in the hall, he warned, "Don't forget what I told you, alright?"

"I won't." I replied and made my way to the last period of the day; gym. We were playing volleyball, a gym class sport I detested. Mostly because I sucked at it. And when you mess up, people yell at you. It was a long hour. I was relieved when it was finally over and I could go to my locker and go home. To cap off the worst day of my life, it was pouring down rain when I got out. Cursing to myself, I ran to the bus and climbed on, not looking forward to the walk home from the bus stop.

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I was soaked by the time I walked through my front door. I went up to my room to change into dry clothes. When I was finished, a small picture on my dresser caught my eye. It was a picture of my grandma. The sight of her picture combined with the title of Lukas' book brought back the memory that had been tugging at me: The story that Grandma had told me so many times about the princess, the labyrinth, and the goblin king. It came back to me in bits and pieces until I remembered the whole thing. At that moment, I wished dearly that such a place were real. That I could escape there. "Lena Marie Renner!"

I glanced up sharply at the sound of my mom's voice through the door. Calling me by my full name was something she only did when she was _really_ angry. I went to the door and pulled it open, wondering what I did this time. Mom stood there, hands on her hips and her face set in a scowl. "What's up?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know.

She crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head to the side the way she did when something irritated her. "I just got a call from your Classical Literature teacher while I was at work." My heart sank. I knew where this was going. She continued, "He told me you're failing his class and he's concerned that you don't seem to care. Any explanation?"

"I _do_ care! He doesn't know what he's talking about!" I screamed in outrage. I couldn't believe he'd called my mother.

"Don't be smart-mouthing me young lady! This is serious. You might have to retake this class next year."

I rolled my eyes and spoke slowly through my teeth so I wouldn't scream again. "Look Mom, I have been having a very bad day and you're not helping right now."

"_You're _having a bad day? How would you like it if you had a daughter who didn't care about her studies in school?"

"_Ugh!_ You don't even listen!" I cried before slamming the door shut and locking it. I went to my bed and threw myself down on it, curling up on my side. It was a minute before I heard Mom's retreating footsteps. I stayed on the bed like that for a while, thinking about everything that had led to this. So many small things added up to one big misery. I thought about my grandma again, wishing she was still alive. I always used to talk to her about things when my mom was being unreasonable. She'd give me advice and words of comfort. As I thought about her, the story of the labyrinth came back, like the two things were interconnected. The princess wished for the goblin king to take her brother away. "I wish the goblin king would take _me_ away." I said longingly to myself, knowing it was pointless. But I felt better getting it out anyway.

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I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, night was settling over my room. I sat up slowly and looked at the clock. It was almost nine at night. I wondered if my mom was still awake. As I sat there getting myself back together, I started to register a faint tapping sound. It had to be what woke me up. I glanced around and pinpointed the sound at my window next to my bed. I got up and swept aside the white lacy curtain to reveal a snow-white owl perched on the porch roof outside. I jumped back in surprise. I'd never seen an owl in real life before, especially not a white one, except maybe in _Harry Potter_. It stared at me with its big dark eyes and tapped the glass with its beak, like it wanted in. I took a cautious step toward the window, not wanting to frighten it away.

"Hi there." I said in what I hoped was a calming voice. I reached out slowly toward the window and pushed it open. As soon as I did, there was a flurry of movement and feathers. I ducked my head and threw up my arms instinctively to protect my face. I felt the wind as the creature flew over my head and into my room. _Oh crap, what do I do now? _There was a wild animal in my room and I had no idea how to handle it. I spun around to see where it had landed, only to find a shock.

Standing before me, dressed in a fancy, tight white outfit with a velvet-black, high-collared cape, was a very alluring, sparkly man. He had a handsome, pale, angular face, long blond hair in all sorts of disarray, and entrancing gray eyes. He smirked at me as I gawked. It took a minute, but I finally managed to speak. "Who-Who are you?"

He grinned and took one step toward me, his fists on his hips. "You called for me, did you not?"

At first, I had no idea what he was talking about, but it came back to me. _I wish the goblin king would take _me_ away._ "You're….the goblin king?" I asked in disbelief. He inclined his head in acknowledgement. "But-but you're not supposed to be real."

He chuckled, and the sound was like a song in my ears. Everything about this man made me feel drawn to him. "I am very real, Lena, and I've come to grant your wish. You wish me to take you away, and so I shall." And without any effort at all, it seemed, he came to me and grabbed me up into his arms, cradling me like a baby. I didn't even get the chance to scream. I don't even know if I wanted to. "Sleep…" the king said soothingly, and my eyes automatically closed of their own accord. Before I went under completely, I had one thought: _So the story was true…_

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_Thanks for reading! Please comment and let me know what you think! :) I'll update as soon as I can. _


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